How the Heroine Met Her Match
by weregrrl
Summary: As the heroine of her own story, Lily Luna has never thought of herself as particularly weak. That is, until the consequences of a forbidden affair force her to realise that 'Action Girls' aren't always the best decision makers, and sometimes even the heartiest heroine is allowed to expect more from life than pain. Rated for the unexpected.
Lily was a screw-up and nobody knew.

Lily fucked her professor and nobody knew.

Lily was disgusting and nobody knew.

 _Lily was pregnant and nobody knew._

For the first time in her life, the youngest Potter was at a loss. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She had been at a loss before she decided to become an Action Girl; the kind of girl she read about in muggle fairy-books, who stood up for what she wanted, consequences be damned. In hindsight, she realised that she had filtered out the part of every story where **CONSEQUENCES** came back to bite Action Girl's perky arse. A baby wasn't a Super Dramatic Action Girl Consequence, though. A baby was a person, and the consequence only of some silly little witch who probably wanted a 'daddy' figure a little too much her own good, and liked broken men more than should be allowed.

Her hand drifted to her stomach. The baby was already kicking. It brought tear from her eyes to feel it moving inside her, though what kind of tears, she didn't quite know. Were they happy? Sad? Wistful? Did she feel bad for what she had done?

No. Lily had decided a long time ago that she wasn't _sorry_ for enjoying herself. She wasn't _sorry_ that she loved someone who probably saw her as another easily misguided seventeen year old. She didn't even feel bad about going behind the backs of everyone she knew, shattering familial bonds with her lustful kinks and demanding eyes. If anyone asked, she would admit this all upfront. She would do it right now.

But no one asked.

Because no one knew.

Just like no one knew the two-way street she walked on with another, its cobblestones darker and more mysterious to the average wizard than Knockturn Alley's crevassed pavement. Put simply, she didn't feel sorry, because _he_ didn't feel sorry. And _he_ didn't feel sorry, because _he_ didn't know yet. She would like to keep it that way.

She was keeping the baby because it was theirs, and nobody would stop her from raising it, even if it came out looking like a miniature version of its (undoubtedly) absent father, and every second looking into her child's eyes broke off another piece of her.

 _But if he knew..._

He would tell her to stop it; to be a good girl, think of her future, and just. stop.

Or maybe not. Maybe he would give her some sort of payment – gold, jewels, a comfortable residence far away from him and his family. A contract agreeing never to return and never mention her child's parentage to anyone. And it would be so, so very easy to slip away into the night promising those things. But they would be promises she would find impossible to keep.

Action Girl Lily had a weakness, one that stood glimmering among all the other imperfections she may possess. She loved him, and she couldn't face a rejection like that.

So she had been avoiding him since she started showing, smothering herself in cloaks and hiding behind a non-existent gluten intolerance to explain her bouts of nausea and vomiting.

And he didn't know.

And nobody else knew.

But Lily did.

Lily raised her head to better see the stars through the window – whatever window it was, whatever deserted floor she had fled to – and they were so bright, their light caused her eyes to water. Her hand shifted nervously on her taut stomach.

 _Keep telling yourself that, Lily. You must keep telling yourself that._

Because if she said it and thought it enough, it would surely become true. She only had two months of her senior year left, and the baby was due in three. If she could just _hold on_ to her emotions she would make it through. That's what Action Girls did, after all. They faced the Consequences, and they proved their point, even if it hurt. And while Lily was a stupid, silly, idiotic little girl, she was still an _Action Girl_ , and she would not give up.

"We're going to be just fine, baby."

She didn't know if the whispered assurance was meant for the child or for herself. She only half realised she had said anything at all.

"Baby?"

Lily jerked out of her reverie, whipping around to face the person who had spoken.

 _Shit._

Of course it was him, with his stupid scars and bland eyes and pallid appearance. _Of course._

"Professor Malfoy," she said, her words coming out stilted, "Is anything the matter, Sir?"

"You've been avoiding me," his voice was stony, accusing.

"You did not seem to require my services anymore," she hedged, slipping her drifting hand into her coat pocket, "Was I mistaken?"

This was the last place she wanted to be. She was cornered, or at least she felt cornered. Honestly, she was still so nauseous from dinner it was hard to tell which way was up. All she knew was that if she took a step to flee, she'd trip and hurt the baby. She'd sob. Her defence would be gone. She chose to stand rigidly in place.

"You're pregnant."

Again, it was a statement, said with enough malice that it may as well have been etched into the stone around them. Lily shivered.

 _Not this. Please, not this._

"I am," she agreed, holding a hand to her chest to steady her increasingly erratic heartbeat.

No one was supposed to know.

But if they asked, she was going to tell them. She was no coward. She wasn't. No Action Girl was.

"Whose?" he asked, stepping closer. Menacing her. Lily had nowhere to go but out the window. But that would hurt the baby. The magic she would have to use to keep herself from becoming injured upon impact could cause her to miscarry. The magic needed to _stir a spoon_ in a tea cup was too frightening a prospect for her. She wasn't failing her practical exams from stupidity. She just wasn't willing to risk anything. _Anything._

"P-please, I need to go," Lily made a move to swoop past her Professor, but he grabbed her wrist in his hand before she could escape.

"I asked whose it is," he repeated, voice still that viscous echoing monotone. Lily felt the tears brimming at her eyelids again.

"Do you think I'm a whore?" she asked quietly, head down. Not looking at him made it better.

"No," his voice remained cold.

"Then why do you have to ask, Draco?" she muttered, making to pull away. He didn't release her. He wasn't going to let her go.

"Mine, then?"

Still emotionless as a statue.

"Ours," she whimpered, finally breaking down as her legs gave way. Something stopped her from falling. His arms.

"Let go of me, Draco," she moaned, "It's too much."

"What is?" he asked. Again, she hadn't realised she had said anything.

"I-I can't lose you. It's too stressful," she admitted, her guts churning unpleasantly from the mushroom pie she had consumed earlier, "I'd die. Or the baby would. Then I would definitely die. Can't do it."

"You're not getting rid of it?" he seemed surprised. Lily wanted to get mad. She wanted to throw a massive tantrum. She wanted to lie. But she couldn't find it within herself to do so.

"It's ours," she reaffirmed, "I want it, even if you don't. Please, don't ask me about this again."

His grip tightened around her shoulders.

"Who said I didn't want you to keep the baby?" Lily could have sworn his voice had softened, but it was always hard to tell with Malfoys.

"You don't want me to-"

"No," he stated gruffly before she could even finish, "Why on Earth would I want that? I have no right to ask you to kill a child you want."

"Then you'll send me away," she cried, gripping his shoulders tightly for extra support. She was slipping down a hole she couldn't return from if she tried. Malfoy huffed above her, or she thought he might have. She was still too afraid to look.

The corridor was silent around them, and dark. Silent and dark for too long, just like their relationship. Finally, Draco shifted above her and said something that struck her as particularly cruel.

"My parents would very much like to see grandchildren from me."

Lily guffawed, "Mine wouldn't."

Draco smiled, though the girl couldn't see. Just like she couldn't (or wouldn't) see many of the shameful pleasures he indulged in when it came to her.

"I don't suppose they would," he mused, gathering her up in his arms tighter than was necessary, "but it's not their decision."

Lily paused, staring at the pale hair that hung loose over his grey robes. Draco was a figure in monochrome, standing in a darkened street. She suddenly felt like he may be a stranger, someone she had mistaken for another person she knew.

"Whose decision is it?" she managed to ask, dragging her attention away from the strange detached sensation she was experiencing.

"Yours, obviously," he said, stroking her cheek, even though it made her flinch, "I want you to marry me."

"That's cruel," Lily spat, "You're a lying bastard."

"I'm not lying Lily."

And he truly sounded genuine. It was revolting.

"Well then, I won't be taken in out of pity. I can manage just fine on my own," she insisted, the anger evident in her tone.

"Lily, I don't want you to be alone. Be with me."

He was pleading now. How odd. Lily shook her head.

"You said it was my choice, and I said I won't be taken out of pity."

"For Merlin's sake, Lily!" Draco growled, tensing. He was breathing rather heavily, Lily noted, still feeling away from herself.

 _I hope he doesn't get too angry. He might hurt the baby..._

But why was he angry in the first place? Because she wouldn't accept his charity? She might tell the world about their encounters and tarnish his already blackened name?

"I won't tell," she muttered, "I won't talk to anyone about who the father is, promise. Don't hurt us."

Draco sighed into his lover's hair.

"Lily, did you have any doubts about our relationship continuing before the...baby came along?" he managed to ask.

"No," she admitted, "I thought we could still sneak around in Hogsmeade maybe, but it was different then."

She sniffled for a bit after she finished talking.

"How so?" he inquired.

"You weren't proposing, for one thing," she huffed, "Anything beyond sex was just a fantasy."

"It was for me as well," he rumbled, "Do you think I spent all those nights telling you about my personal life just so you would sleep with me?"

Lily shifted uncomfortably. Her momentary disassociation was coming to a rapid end, she realised.

"Kind of," she said, finally looking into his stupid bland-as-porridge grey eyes, "I mean, it worked, didn't it? Or you thought it did."

"I'll ask that again, Miss Potter, daughter of Harry Potter, the infamous Wizard-Who-Hates-Me-For-Legitimate-Reasons; do you honestly think I would tell you, Miss Potter, of all people about my lonely childhood, frustrating school life, and pathetic adulthood if I didn't one hundred percent have an ulterior motive?"

"And that ulterior motive wasn't sex?" she felt feisty now. She sounded feisty. Lily cursed her raging hormones and Potter curiosity.

"I'm not going to say my actions weren't powered by lust," Draco hedged, "but lust alone wouldn't make me act like a complete idiot. "

He shot her a lopsided grin – lopsided was all he could manage after the war had taken its toll. Lily's eyes were wide from all the implications.

"What are you saying?" she whispered, too tired of feeling let down to hope, but hoping anyway.

"I love you, Miss Lily," he admitted in that blasé way of his, and Lily was so glad he had used her first name, not 'Potter'.

"You're not lying, are you?" she asked, eyeing the man shrewdly. Draco huffed again.

"I don't lie to the people I care about, Lily. And I absolutely do not abuse pregnant women or their unborn children. Frankly, I'd like to know where you go that idea from."

Lily's face coloured. She felt ashamed of herself. Of course Draco wouldn't hurt her. The man was terrified of hurting _plants_ , for crying out loud.

"I've been very afraid recently. I apologise."

Her voice was small. She hugged herself even closer to her Professor to hide her insecurities.

"I accept," Draco muttered, rubbing circles on her back, knowing how to calm her, "Now do you?"

The witch started.

"Do I what?"

"Accept, darling," Draco said with an air of long suffering, "Do you accept my proposal of marriage?"

Lily twined her fingers through strands of his long hair absently.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" she whispered, fearful, "I mean, this situation? My family will try to have you put in Azkaban."

"Don't care about that. I want to know what you want," he pushed, pouting like a little boy. Lily noticed he did that sometimes, but never mentioned it to him. She didn't really want him to stop, and he would if he knew.

"Of course I want to marry you," she said grudgingly, "I love you. I'm pregnant with _our_ child. But the trouble it would cause..."

Draco kissed her then.

"As far as Potters are concerned, I've always been trouble."

"This is different, Draco," Lily found herself scolding the Professor. He just smiled.

"Yes, it is different," he acknowledged, "There are no Potters here are there, Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Draco!" she near shouted, "I'm being serious."

"So am I, and I've had twenty years more practice at it then you have, so perhaps you should lighten up a little?" he jabbed, smirking. Lily knew what he was up to, the jerk. He wanted to irritate her into a good mood. Well, it wasn't working.

"Extra experience you clearly haven't learned from!" she exclaimed, "You just bloody accused me of cheating on you, and now we're engaged! How is that thinking things through seriously?"

"Well, frankly, I thought you could do a lot better," her fiance admitted, "I would have been glad if you had found someone else, but I'm far too selfish to say I'm _unhappy_ at this turn of events."

And now she was really mad.

"What the Hel do you mean I 'could do better'? What's wrong with you?"

"Let's see. Boring job, boring features, I'm tall, but not at all charming. Lots of unsightly scarring thanks to a traumatic past that still haunts me, and I have this awful mark on my left forearm-"

Lily was back in full Action Girl mode, and she was _pissed off_.

"I love you! You're perfect! Shut up!" she growled, pushing herself away from the Professor. Walking away, she paused to glare at the man behind her, "And don't you dare insult my husband ever again. He's the most attractive man in the world," she snarled before stalking off, muttering about stupid men and how much she hated pies.

"I'm glad you think so, Lily," Draco mumbled after her, a smirk growing on his face, and a small twinkle in his eyes. He really hoped their child was as beautiful as its mother, and not just because he was average at best. It wasn't everyday the most gorgeous woman in the world declared you were the most attractive man in her eyes.

But then, that was love, wasn't it, and Action Girl always ended up with the man she wanted. Coincidently, he was also the man she needed most in her confusing Consequence filled life.

Action Girl decided she had rather good taste.

* * *

 **A/N: Ta-da! I wrote something. Can I get a round of applause, please?!**  
 **...**  
 **Nothing but crickets, eh? Okay then. Have it your way. Haha.**  
 **Seriously, I hope you all enjoyed reading. I certainly enjoyed writing.**

 **Love,**

 **Lucy~!**


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